How To Make A Hiring Manager Fall In Love With Your Resume
Resume Writing Tips
You’re sitting across from each other, making eye contact, and answering questions about yourself and your background. Is this a date? No, it’s a job interview. Similar to a first date, hiring managers use job interviews to see if you’d be a good fit, long term.
The interview process starts the moment the hiring manager reads your resume. Are you putting your best foot forward? Make sure your resume follows these guidelines to land the opportunity for an interview. Here are some resume writing tips to impress a hiring manager.
1. Tailor Your Resume for the Job
Sure, this will take more time than sending the same resume to every potential employer, but it’s worth it! If you tie in job duties or achievements from your work experience to the job you’re applying to, it assures the hiring manager you’re qualified. Hiring managers likely see hundreds of resumes before deciding on the top candidates. By adding keywords from the job description to your resume, you’ll stand out among the competition.
2. Don’t Fib
As tempting as it may be, just don’t do it. Lying on your resume is a big no-no. It’s not a matter of if your lie will come out, it’s a matter of when. And when it does, you’ll suffer major consequences and could lose your job. If you’re insecure about your background, get in touch with us. We can help you articulate your experiences to make sure you have a fair chance, without stretching the truth.
3. Include a Summary of Qualifications
This section should be a couple of sentences below the header. Tailor it to the job your applying for and explain why you’re qualified. Be clear and concise.
4. Make Your Resume Skimmable
One of the top resume writing tips is to make your resume skimmable. If your resume isn’t easy to skim, it will be disregarded immediately. Hiring managers have a tough job of screening countless candidates and if they can’t get the gist of your resume in the first couple seconds, they’ll move on. Some components of an easy-to-skim resume include a header, subheaders, easy to read fonts, good use of bolding and italicizing, and a place to easily locate your contact information.
5. Consider Adding Coursework Experience
Coursework and major projects are huge learning experiences, so add them! This also assures the interviewer you’re qualified for the job. However, there are some limitations. Only add this section if you recently graduated or if you’re making a major career change to a different industry. And once you have a couple of years of work experience under your belt, lose this section.
6. Finesse the Resume Order
If you’re a recent grad, put your education summary before your work or volunteer experience, unless it’s extensive and relevant. Also consider adding clubs, organizations, and GPA to this section. This will create a more robust resume when you don’t have work experience. On the other hand, if you’ve been in the workforce for years, your experience on the job is more pertinent than the college you graduated from 10 plus years ago. Move this section below your work experience.
You can create a resume a hiring manager will fall in love with. If you want tailored tips for success, contact our team. We work with recent grads, those who want a complete career change, and professionals ready to level up their career with a stellar resume. We’d love to connect!